Thanks
by XenoLongbottom
Summary: Charlie meets an old "friend" of Claire's at a Drive Shaft concert and must deal with a sticky situation revolving around Aaron. In this story, Charlie luckily did not die in the Looking Glass.


"Ready baby brother?" said the elder one.

"Whenever you're ready," the "baby" replied.

The two brothers were standing backstage of a large stadium, guitars around their necks, and with their eyeliner perfectly done.

"You know, you can take the chorus to 'You All Everybody' tonight."

"Really?" asked Liam in surprise.

"Why not?" answered Charlie, with a grin on his face.

And with that, they stepped out into the blinding light and the cheering fans. Oh, the sound of Drive Shaft fans when they were seeing their idols in person.

"Welcome everybody tonight," cried out Liam into the microphone. "You ready to Rock!"

The crowd went crazy. They most certainly were ready. There hadn't been a Drive Shaft concert in years, and the first was taking place right there, out of all the cities of the world, Sydney, Australia.

The songs had begun, and the concert went on well into the night. Charlie had missed the old adrenaline of being on stage. But this adrenaline was different. This adrenaline was the one without the extra boost of heroin.

All the people in the audience were drinking and screaming away, oblivious to the occasional moments when they were out of key or missed a note. But what did that matter? This was Drive Shaft!

Then, half way through, Liam motioned for Charlie to step forward. "Now, my baby brother has written a few new songs for you guys, and he would love to sing them, personally."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks Liam. Now, some you might not have heard," he said while tuning his guitar, "I might've been trapped on an island for a couple of months." The whole crowd laughed. How could they not know? "And while I was on that dreadful forsaken place, I found a light. And this song is dedicated to her. It's called, 'My Australian Girl.'"

He began to play the simple melody. It was the one out of the two slow songs that were going to come out on the new album. And the whole time, flashes of Claire's shining face came into his head. And even flashes of Aaron were dabbled in their too. And he couldn't help but recall his love for the two of them. His family.

And with the last G note, he opened his eyes, to find the whole crowd in an uproar. They actually liked it. They really liked it. The grin on his face was unmistakable. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and without thinking, he said, "Do you want to meet her?"

The crowd cheered louder. Liam nodded, and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Well, then please welcome, the future Mrs. Charlie Pace, Claire Littleton!" The applause was immediate. He knew perhaps he should've told the world the news in a better way, but he felt the fans had the right to know he was seriously taken, especially his female fans.

Out walked Claire on stage. She didn't look happy that she was called out. Charlie could see it in her eyes. But she was smiling. Her clothes were ruffled. She must've been napping. And 3 year old Aaron was in her arms, fast asleep. Charlie didn't expect Claire to bring him out, so then he introduced him too. "And Aaron, her son."

Claire made the best of it. She was waving to the audience and giving them a dazzling smile. Charlie had never thought she looked prettier.

Liam gave a grin at the family, and called his out as well. Karen was waving and young Megan giggling like crazy as they walked up on stage. The whole crowd was crazy for the Pace-Littleton family.

At midnight, the concert was finally done with, and they all headed back stage to go home. Aaron was still asleep. Claire went out first; Charlie was still thanking the crew with the rest of the band, and was carrying Aaron. His blond head was drooped on her shoulder with his arms around her neck.

Fans were waiting patiently outside for the band, but for the moment they settled for the band's family. They kept on asking Claire questions like, "When's the wedding?", "How long were you on the island before you fell in love?" and the most awkward, "Who's the father of your baby?"

Claire tried to ignore them, and really wished Charlie would hurry up, when she heard a dreadful yet familiar voice behind her, "Claire! Claire! Claire Littleton!"

_Just ignore it_, she thought as she continued to get closer to the limo. She was nearly there. But then she felt the hand on her shoulder. She turned to the side, and stared at that face she hoped she would never see again.

"Claire, don't you remember me?"

"Of course I do Thomas," she replied, trying to grin.

"It's so great to see you Claire! Congrats on getting engaged. That's fantastic. And why didn't anyone tell me you were in a plane crash?"

She stared at him. He had missed so much of her life. At least four years now. It seemed funny to her how little he knew her. She didn't know how to react to him, so she just stayed silent.

Thomas was staring at Aaron's back. "Is that him, Claire? Is that the baby?"

He was craning his neck to see the son he had left behind before even seeing his face.

Claire protectively put a hand on the back of Aaron's head. "Charlie?" she said, quietly. She never wished to be in this situation, but it had come. "Charlie!" she repeated more loudly.

Charlie was quickly by her side. He knew she was in trouble just by her voice. It changed since being on the island. Whether because of her hormones being more balanced or the situation changing, he didn't know. He didn't ask. All what he needed to know was that she was in danger.

"What's a matter Claire?" he said with a look of concern. "And who's this?" he asked, first noticing Thomas.

"This is Thomas," Claire said as calmly as she could. She then turned her head and whispered to him. "I've told you about Thomas."

Charlie nodded, understanding. He puffed up his chest, and muttered to Claire, "Get to the limo quickly and get Aaron out of here. I'll deal with it."

Claire shook her head yes, kissed him on the cheek, and quickly made it past Thomas, making sure he was unable to see his son's face.

Charlie turned to Thomas. This was awkward, he thought t himself. But then he decided to use the best ice breaker of many that he had in his arsenal. "Let's get a drink, my treat."

"Good game," Thomas said, pointing at the rugby match on the TV in the local pub.

Charlie nodded, not sure what to say. What could you say to your fiancée's ex who she had a kid with?

"So, what's he like?"

"Who?" Charlie asked, confused.

"The baby. Aaron you said his name was?"

Charlie sighed. He didn't like how nonchalant Thomas seemed to be about the entire situation, having to ask a complete stranger what his own kid was like. "He's a good kid. He cries sometimes, but then we call up Uncle Sawyer and he talks to him, then he's off to sleep again."

"Sounds nice," Thomas grinned into his beer.

Charlie didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

"So, do you think I can see him before you guys head out?"

Charlie shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Thomas looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because, I don't know how Claire will feel about it…"

"Look, I'm sorry I left, I shouldn't have. But I can't turn the clock back. And besides, he's my kid too." He took a gulp from his beer.

Charlie was furious. His kid? Where was he when Claire was pregnant? Where was he when the baby was born? Where was he when Aaron was kidnapped? Where was he…

Charlie stopped in the middle of those thoughts, and looked over at Thomas. He had to be calm. As calm as he could muster. It would be difficult to explain this on a hot head. "Because," Charlie began to answer. "You gave up that right when you left them."

"I'm sorry okay, I said that already."

"It doesn't matter if your sorry or not. What's done is done. And if Claire gets what she wants, you'll never see his face."

"Can't you understand though?" Thomas was looking at him pleadingly. "I love him. He's my kid. I don't have to be a part of his life. I just want to see him. At least give me that."

Charlie looked down at his beer, rubbing his thumb on the cold bottle. "You know, my brother had a similar problem." He couldn't believe he was telling this story. "You see, my brother and his girlfriend, now wife; you saw them on stage tonight; had their little girl out of wedlock. But when Megan was finally born, Liam had missed her birth. Then, when Liam finally got to hold her, he dropped her since he was rather high. Karen couldn't trust him anymore, and kicked him out."

Thomas nodded a little. "So what did he do then?"

"He gave up his old ways. He left the band, quit the drugs, went to rehab, and came back to Megan."

"What's your point?" questioned Thomas.

"That even when things were tough, he stayed. He could've given up and left. He could've left her and never returned. But he stayed. He got better quickly and stayed. He wanted to be with them so much, he gave up his drugs. He was no coward."

"But… I wasn't ready." Tears were in Thomas' eyes.

"Yeah," replied Charlie, "But do you think Claire was? You could've left the next day, which you might've well have, but she had to go through with it for nine months."

There was a pause between the two of them, and Thomas ordered another beer. "You know," Charlie said after a while, "Claire was going to give Aaron to a family in L.A. That's why she was on that plane. If you hadn't left, she would've never gone on that plane and she would've never crashed."

Thomas looked again as if he was going to be sorry, but Charlie stopped him. "And I'd like to say thanks."

Thomas stared at him, shocked. "What?"

"Because if that plane had never crashed I would've never met her. I would've never been there for her when she needed me. I wouldn't have been there when Aaron was born. I would've have never gotten engaged to her. So thank you."

He then put down 20 Australian dollars on the counter and said, "You know, I sort of feel sorry for you. You lost the most perfect girl in the world." And as he got off his stool and began to walk toward the door, "And if you ever come near Claire or Aaron again, I won't be as nice."

And with that he walked out the door, not even looking back.

When Charlie had reached the hotel room, Claire was sitting on the couch, waiting for him to get home. As soon as he opened the door, she stood up. "How'd it go?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"It was…" he then looked down at her. Her blue eyes were sparkling, and her blond hair had their usual natural waves flowing down her shoulders. She was as beautiful as she was when he first saw her. "It was an eye opener to seeing how unlucky someone could be."

"What makes you say that?" putting her arms around him.

He grinned down at him, put his arms around her, and kissed her forehead, "Because their not in my position right now."


End file.
